♪ imus in the morning ♪ >> i'm charles payne in for stuart varney and here is the big story. mitt romney continues to ride the momentum from last week's big debate victory and the latest pew research shows romney gained 12 points overall, 18 points among women. those are huge gains for just one debate ands' also taking support away from president obama among top bankers on wall street.

executives and employees at goldman sachs so-called the fat cats, they are abandoning the president and giving nearly 1 million dollars to the romney campaign that's what they gave barack obama four years ago and companies report earnings and could be lots of bad news expected, but could this also be the momentum that helps mitt romney? "varney & company" about to begin right now. follow the wings.

>> it's tuesday, october 9th. earnings season starts after the bell today. the vice-president and the vice-presidential debate two days away and right now here is our company, sandra smith in studio and nicole petallides from the the floor of the new york stock exchange. guys, new polls from pew research shows a big post debate bounce for mitt romney. the broadest poll of all voters has romney with a 4 point lead and this was taken for four days starting with the debate.

the day after the debate now. the previous poll had president obama with an 8 point lead, but the swing that's more pronounced is among women. it's a major, major thing, and 47-47. that's a 18 point swing from the previous poll. on to another area where mitt romney is catching up on money, goldman sachs employees, they gave more than a million dollars to obama in 2008. and they've only given them $136,000, on the other hand goldman sachs employees have given mitt romney 900,000, and more to the super pac. so, sandra, lots of signs point to go a romney revival and the thing that jumps out. 47-47% among women and this would seem just absolutely unbelievable just a week ago. >> first of all, there's a lot of time still left before the election and these numbers can still change. the change in women voters is

huge and it also brings to realization that there is he' still a lot of undecided voters out there that are still easily swayed with just days left before the election. charles: when you talk an about 18 point swing. >> huge. charles: these were decided voters who changed their minds, this is something if you listen to the experts, you know, we're only dealing with a handful of people, 5 to 10% that will do this, but they are he' saying that people already had an opinion, women have changed their minds. >> and the other thing the cool factor seems to be going up for mitt romney. and same pour favorable rating hit 50% the first time among registered voters and that's a sign that in this debate he put across that he can be cool like president obama. charles: and the first debate and presidential campaigns will never be treated the same again. german chancellor angela merkel makes his first visit to the greece since they began. they were there to greet her, tear gas and rocks and clashes with police and despite a ban on

protests thousands of greeks have taken to the streets right now, more than 7,000 police officers are there on hand. merkel just a moment ago, saying to greece, well, it's made good progress with the financial a reforms and we of course are watching as the story developed. it's been explosive. speaking of explosive. mitt romney getting a huge bump after the debate. the question, will he now win in november. after the break, a person that says yes, romney will win. we are going to ask him why after the opening bell. you seus, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highways. onnce empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us at us bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and communities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of us serving you,

around the country, around the corner. us bank. oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em see what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. like in a special opsission? you'd spot movement, gather intelligence wh minimal collateral damage. but rather than neutralizing enemies in their sleep, u'd be targeting stocks to trade. well, that's what trade architect's heat maps do. they make you a trading assassin. trade architect. td ameritrade's empowering web-based trading platform.

trade commission-free for 60 days, and we'll throw in up to $600 when you open an account. why let erectile dysfunction get in your way? talk to your doctor about viagra. ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours. stop taking viagra and call your doctor right away

if you experience a sudden decrease or loss in vision or hearing. this is the age of taking action. viagra. talk to your doctor.

>> we're about ten seconds from the opening bell. the national federation of independent businesses, headlines, hiring plans plunge. small business optimism drops and it's still at recession levels. not good news, that brought the futures down a little bit and you can hear the bell. so let's go and check. the big board here. and starting down, not a big deal. down 2 points, down 3 points and the bias now slightly to the down side. although there is positive results for eli lilly's alzheimer's drug and this year up to a four year high. nicole, how did the shares open? >> yeah, we're looking at levels we haven't seen really since 2008. the levels, 51-45 and up about 1% now and this is on the news hereof the alzheimer's findings

in the drug. their experimental drug and led to 34% reduction in memory decline for the patients with some mild symptoms over a period of 18 months. so that was great news there and that's why you see it here, up 1.2% right now for eli lilly. charles: i tell you as we all live longer, that's great news. ironically some wall street firms upped the stock to neutral and had a sell the whole time maybe coming around. >> right, a little late, a little late. charles: thanks a lot, nicole. and speaking of high. gas prices in california hitting another record overnight as refinely problems continue to take a serious poll on supply. and 4.67, but sandra, some are thinking that maybe the worst is over with respect to the spike, and the problem though, obviously, is that we've seen these things go up huge and they come down a lot slower. >> keep in mind that the gasoline stations have to buy

this and often times they have a certain-- >> and defending the gas stations right out the gate. >> i'm not defending them, but the national average is 3.82, and no one says that's cheap. so they're a major talking point. mitt romney has a strong energy policy, president obama does not. and this will be wildly in play and california seemed to have the wildly high gas prices because they have the added regulations and taxes and shoot themselves into the foot. and they won't build new refineries on problems of they already have. charles: they won't take advantage of natural resources, won't allow drilling, it's economic suicide. >> it's just not smart period. when you talk about whether or not we're topping out in gas prices, that's yet to be seen. oil prices are down and back below $90 a barrel and still high energy prices, so. charles: it's a cautionary tale for the rest of the country

because we haven't built any refineries and even though the rules aren't as draconian as california a hiccup could see-- >> energy production is at a 15 year high. if you look at it as a symbol of the u.s. economy and the health of it. our usage is still about 12% lower than last year and that means that people are still driving less and consuming less. >> absolutely. the new poll from pew research shows a big post debate bounce from romney. the broadest poll has romney with a 4 point lead four days starting with the day after the debate. the previous poll had president obama with an 8 point lead, but the swing is much more pronounced mopping women voters. now, it has the candidates tied. it's a 18 point swing, a 18 point swing, from the previous poll. and joining the company now, from the director of economic research, with the recent foundation and that's not anthony, we'll get to john in a

moment. anthony, are you there? all right. john, you're an expert on all things. >> now, you are. charles: radio personality extraordinaire. >> thanks. charles: let's start first of all with the swing. were you telling people that mitt romney would win before the debate? >> oh, absolutely. mitt romney is going to win this election no doubt. charles: why? >> because reality will intervene. people vote on pocket book issues and the pocket book issues don't add up very well for president obama. charles: here is the thing though, john, the president's not arguing the pocket book issues he's arguing give me more time to make it better. does that mitigate or neutralize at that angles' taking? >> no, i think when you go to the gas pump and price are 3.85, you know your life is not better. and especially because we have a situation where the president has attempted to do really zero

in order to try to change that for american families. people aren't stupid. at the end. day, politics becomes reality. >> by the way not only that, he's taking credit for the-- for the energy production in this country now. >> absolutely. charles: you would think when he could, throw george bush a bone. you brow beat the guy and after all that is george bush's policies what you were talking about, made it possible. and john, i wish i could say that it's that simple. you know? because life is just not that simple and people are swayed shall that's why they spend a billion dollars on commercials. there seems to be a strong entrenchment of people who believe it's not president obama's fault. that he needs more time and that his policies-- you think that more and more people will have some sort of epiphany. it's not hard to have if you go to the gas station or buy a gallon of milk. >> that's what we do, right?

we're not sitting there watching tv or asking for commercials to be brought at us, we're out there living our lives and i can tell you right now, my neighbors, my friends, my family, life is harder now for them than it used to be and that's the reality. inside the pew poll and i don't mean to denigrate the top line number if you look at the difference between september and now, a 7 point bias on democrats in the september poll and they had democrats coming out, plus 7, and now, they have, they have erased that deficit. so top line, that's one of the things you're seeing. what's really important though, when you look down and what pollster-- >> when you you mean 7 points, registered democrats and now registered republicans? >> in their poll sample they had 7% more democrats showing up at the polls. >> they say to the person on the other end of the phone, what party are you aligned with? >> yes. charles: okay. >> and they have 7% more democrats showing up at the polls than republicans for this

election. charles: likely voters. >> likely voters, right. charles: that's a distinct. >> this time around there's no plus 7. it's basically tied. charles: john, before i let you go. it looks like a player on wall street changed their tune with president obama. they gave more than a million dollars to president obama in 2008. onlied 136,000 this time around and in the meantime the same employees have given romney 900,000 and another 900,000 to the super pac that's supporting him. so, these are numbers that come to us from the wall street journal, that is a massive reversal just like the thing with the women voters. >> they want to win and the smart money, they want to pick to the winner is. and last time obama and this time romney, they want to keep assets going. charles: for the most part you don't trust polls at all. because you felt this way pre-debate. that the polling is just off,

it's completely ignoring common sense for the most part? >> i trust polls as long as it's a valid tool. it hasn't been a vaaid tool. they're not measuring reality. democrats aren't going to turn out 7% higher in this election and if they think they are he' going to, it's higher. >> john rasmussen, appreciate it. remember this from last week's debate. pun of the punches that mitt romney landed on the jaw. >> don't forget, you put 90 billion dollars, 50 year's worth of breaks, into solar and wind, solyndra and fisker and test l.a. and enter one, i had a friend you don't just pick the winners and losers, you pick the losers. charles: new at ten, add one more to the list, and how compact power received $150 million taxpayer dollars to make batteries for the chevy volt and president obama visited the company two years ago. wait until you hear how many batteries they've actually made.

that's at the top of the hour. and apple reportedly ordering more than 10 million ipad minis for the christmas shopping season. nicole, apple has been taking it on the chin. how is it doing now? >> another day, another headline about the possible apple mini, and what's interesting here, you take a look at the stock right now. you know, it fell below 650. and here it is at 636. traders are looking at a different window, charles, looking at 620 to 625. martin over at gray wolf a couple of days ago the buy point was 621, 22. we'll see, obviously there's been a real market for the smaller tablets, right, with the kindle fire, et cetera. charles: all right. time is money, so in 30 seconds, here is what else we're watching for you today. the deadly outbreak of meningitis. how this has happened and should we all be worried about our

pharmacies? we told you about the big swing towards mitt romney among women voters. what did romney say at the debate that women like so much. our corporation's people. we'll be joined by a guest who says, no, they're not and now what? i think that we're going to debate it. now i have the honor of seven early movers and the dow is off 18 points and came here to visit his son and watch the jets lose to his hometown team. green mountains cut a deal with snapple, selling premium iced teas in the k-cups, a pretty good move for the stock under pressure of late. cardinal health. an upgrade this morning, buy from hold and the new target for this now is $46. about 15% from where it is now. rio tinto says they're going to step up cost cutting efforts, it's interesting they missed the china growth that's lower, but the street likes the fact that they're taking action. spectrum, a buying stanley

improvement group. and another company spending money and stock is soaring. nokia actually pretty good this morning i don't have any news yet, but i want to keep an eye on it and bring it to your attention. and quest core, the prescription drugs used for among other things, ms, it's up pretty good and here you can see the street likes the trends there and radioshack, coming into today, they had zero buy recommendations. this morning, bank of america, merrill lynch says, now what? at $2 we like it, they gave it a buy. wall street earnings, well, season is going to be bad, everybody admits that, the worst in years in fact. how will that impact the presidential race? that's next. [ male announcer ] how do you trade?

with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fully customize it for your trading process -- from thought to trade, on every screen. and all in real time. which makes it just like having your own trading floor, right at your fingertips. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. try our easy-to-use scottrader streaming quotes. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

i have a great fit with my dentures. i love kiwis i've always had that issue with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free -- it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically provoven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. super poligrip free made the kiwi an enjoyable experience. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip.

wooohooo....hahaahahaha! oh...there youo. wooohooo....hahaahahaha! i'm gonna stand up to her! no you're not.

i know. you know ronny folks who save hundreds of llars switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than a witch in a broom factory. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. >> breaking news for you now, take a look at the latest scene out of greece. protesters getting violent in the streets of athens and angela americaing speaking now and protesters throwing rocks all over austerity and we'll keep you updated. well, earnings season kicks off with alcoa reporting after the bell, but there's some dire predictions out there saying this could be a very bad season for company profits and what does it mean for the presidential race? joining us is money manager and market watcher kyle harrington. the earnings season before the november election, how could that impact the president? >> oh, i think it impacts them

in a very negative way. i think that gas prices will be on the top of the battle here in terms of affecting him in a negative way, but i think right in there is earnings and how they look. i mean, alcoa today. costco tomorrow. levi strauss tomorrow. some big companies going to report some earnings and we're going to see exactly how they fared in the last quarter and all of those things together, charles, can be taunt mount to see here how the president shapes up. >> you know, one of the things i found interesting in the last year or so, some of these companies coming out. particularly the ceo for caterpillar, who's come out with statements that have been directly aimed at the white house, sort of saying, hey, hands off our profits and stop mingling, let us make money. do you think if it's as bad as people think we'll hear more companies saying, you know, if we can cut back on the regulations and on the reto rhetorical attacks, maybe we'd be doing better?

>> absolutely. we've spoke been this a bunch. the regulatory environment is big not only for big companies, but pursuant to notice to compete and do the things they want to do so i suspect that you're going to hear this theme more so in the coming weeks ahead. because this is going to be a big earnings season for the president and i would pay, arges, particular attention to the revenues of the companies. because we can do the fuzzy math with expenses by cutting overhead, to make profits look like the right number, okay, for wall street, but let's make sure we take a look how are we selling in the international markets? how are we selling revenues-wise in the domestic market? those are the numbers i want to focus on. >> in other words, how much money, a company like apple sells 60% of products outside of america, great earnings nt always reflective of the domestic economy. so it's important for us to be able to pars that. the average person is not necessarily going to be able to do that, kyle.

>> right. charles: so, do you think it's till now the stock market has been absolutely amazing and a winning issue for the president and yet, he hasn't brought that up. why do you think that is? >> because, i think, charles, here, what's happened here in my opinion is that a lot of the companies and the stock prices of these companies have gone up relatively significantly if you look at the year 2012. the reason why that is. a lot of these companies, charles, have cut overhead. they've laid off people and hence, if you look at the unemployment market. the number stayed stagnant and it's going higher. i think that's going to be an issue here. charles: that's what they call productivity. kyle haarington, see you soon. >> thank you. charles: here is the gold report, unchanged. 1775. sort inform a holding pattern right now. actress stacy dash, one of my favorites, is coming out in support of mitt romney and slammed for it on twitter. you will not believe what her critics are saying. no surprise the race card gets

played a lot. that's next.

>> well, it's not acceptable for a celebrity, especially a black celebrity, to publicly support mitt romney. actress stacy dash, perhaps best known for her role in the movie

clueless, is facing an angry backlash, some are calling her clueless, those are some of the nicest. and tweeted, vote for romney, the only choice for your future. adam shapiro joins the company now. and what's your reaction to a knee jerk, amazing, harsh immediate avalanche of criticism that she took? >> that's what you just said is knee jerk, i think a lot of people just assume if you're african-american you're going to vote democrat if you're gay you'll vote democrat. but although there are republican gay people, should their friends consider for voting romney, watch the sword come down. watch how people go crazy if you express what you believe and counter to-- >> and the group that ask for

most tolerance are least tolerant? >> i found it interesting that sandra nuclear, supported dash, so disappointed to see people attacking stacy dash for racing her opinion. disagree with her politically, but racist attacks are unacceptable. >> when you can't support your argument you go with baseline attacks, race, insult. those kinds of things. charles: it's terrible that we can't really keep it real. new at 10, we have a brand new green energy failure from the obama administration, and the company that president visited and touted and gave him 150 million of your tax dollars to build batteries for the chevy volt. guess how many batteries were made? got the answer for you next.

>> announcer: meet mary. she loves to shop online with her debit card, and so does bill, an identity thief who stole mary's identity, took over her bank accounts and stole her hard-earned money. now meet jack. after 40 years, finally saved enough to enjoy retirement. angie, the waitress at jack's favorite diner, is also enjoying his retirement. with just a little information, she's opened up a credit line, draining the equity in jack's home. unfortunately, millions of americans just like you learn all it may take is a little misplaced information to wreak havoc on your life. this is ididentity theft, and none helps stop it better than lifelock. see, ordinary credit monitoring services tell you after your identity has been stolen. they may take 30 days to

alert you-- too late for jack. lifelo has the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. if mary had lifelock's bank account alerts, she may have been notified in time to help stop it. if jack had lifelock's 24/7 proactive protection, he could have been alerteby phone or e-ma as soon as they noticed an attack on their network, before it was too late. lifeck has the most comprehensive identity theft protection ailable, guarding your social security number, your money, your credit, even the equity in your home. while identity theft can't be completely stopped, no one works harder to protect you than lifelock. you even get a $1 million service guarantee. at's security no one can beat. you have so much to protect and nothing to lose when you call lifelock right now and get 60 days of identity theft protection risk free-- that's right, 60 days risk free-- use promo code: notme. order now anget this document shredder to keep sensitive documents out of the wrong hands-- a $29 value, free. call the number on your screen.

[♪...] charles: taxpayers gave compact power $150 million. the president visited the company in 2010. how is this part of the green energy revolution? compaq was supposed to build batteries for the chevy volt. one problem. didn't build a single battery. didn't make one. now they're putting workers on furlough. the latest wonder from the obama administration's green energy policies. the market is open in half an hour and is a holding pattern

down 14 points. here is the company. sandra smith is still with us at adam shapiro and nicole petallides from the floor of the new york stock exchange. intel on big loser in the dow. nicole: number one loser in the dow jones industrial average. tech stocks have coming to focus because analysts are all over the place and intel is one of those downgraded to lana underperform from overs of a performer and we see it down here 1.7% roughly. 28% now. some other names, and i have one more for you. that is good. hewlett-packard. charles: can you imagine ten years ago initiated with sales bill and sheila packard. new at 10:00 another failed green company supported by the president. in 2010 president obama visited the factory of compact power.

the company received $150 million and was supposed to make batteries for the chevy volt. now the company is furloughing its workers and yet to produce a single battery. mitt romney said last week about this in the debate search. >> don't forget. you put $90 billion, 50 years worth into solar and wind to solyndra and tesla. i had a friend could set you don't just pick winners and losers. you pick the losers. charles: that is the same -- when he says he knows i am right he gives me the same look and more to it. >> you will see this come back up. he talked about ninety billion -- democrats talk about $2.8 billion in subsidies and put in $90 billion to help fledgling green energy companies get going and you get

$150 million in the scheme of things. million here or a million there. $150 million search that. >> the government should not pick winners and losers. this is an absolute absurdity and companies trying to defend -- the reason they haven't saying they have been conducting preproduction test runs over the last couple years. we need to let private enterprise and private investors work these things out and if the market conditions render a company like this to survive and thrive then it will on its own but the government should not be involved. charles: to your point when the private sector is involved there is more accountability. [talking over each other] >> reality check. [talking over each other] >> there is a role for government in helping new technology get started. you don't want to throw the baby out with the bath water. mitt romney mentioned as lot. elon musk having a good run with

his ventures and tax funds to help them get going in a company that is -- [talking over each other] charles: where do you draw the line? >> we'll let the people who decide. we elect in obama last time and he decided for the. we will allow the next person and they will decide -- these will not disappear. [talking over each other] charles: we do have breaking news. the world's biggest shipping company has stopped doing business into and out of iran and will no longer operate there in the foreseeable future. blaming a combination of e.u. sanctions and stronger u.s. sanctions and the company says it is no longer possible to conduct business in iran. at the end of last week iran was in turmoil. currency falling apart and i don't know -- it is what we want but will push us through the red line sooner rather than later. the latest polls. numbers from q research phenomenal. mitt romney has the four point lead over all.

before the debate he was down eight points and among women romney's debate performance led to an 18 point reversal. total swing. two candidates with women are tired and romney getting a boost from goldman sachs employees. according to the wall street journal which confirmed big supporters of obama, giving romney $900,000 directly and $900,000 to the super pac. as for an issue we are not hearing much about on the campaign trail housing. the housing market seems pretty good but neither side as such it. joining us to cover all of this, the reason foundation and the reason magazine. great to have you in studio. let's start with a few research thing. i was outside -- i could not believe such a reversal was possible. >> i don't think the national

number matters as much as the lead for college because we don't elect someone on popular vote. what matters more than that number is how they are doing in florida and virginia and north carolina. charles: can't get the national reversal like that without an impact. >> those are the polls whether or not you are excited depending on who you are going for in this campaign and look at how those are reflected in swing states. charles: what do you think? >> romney is going to have to take every one of the major swing states. florida and virginia and ohio and he is looking good in terms of florida and virginia and ohio -- [talking over each other] >> will be difficult for him to win. in terms of the electromagnet -- [talking over each other] charles: colorado, no ohio. >> with michigan and colorado heat and still win. charles: a tough uphill climb.

>> it is suffering now. charles: the reversal among women. >> that is huge. that is the thing that could certainly be a game change. charles: enthusiasm will be important. >> coming out of the debate a lot of support. people vote for him and not as much enthusiasm. charles: reflected in the few poll it was overwhelmingly democrats who set i will vote and this time it was slightly more when republicans are saying we will vote and democrats are not saying they are actually going to go out and pull a lever. >> could romney switch it up in ohio if you were to concentrate on housing and housing market hasn't really recovered. wouldn't that be the way to leverage the obama administration -- has done nothing -- ohio and florida absolutely. think about housing. roughly 15% of the economy. $200 bailout of fannie mae and

freddie mac continuing to grow and not being discussed and financial institutions struggling with these margins and the obama administration has done nothing of substance over the last four years. this is not being discussed. >> tim geithner said the money that was given to the banks to refinance people wasn't to help the refinance but foam the runway for the banks. >> caught romney campaign is not necessarily well structured debate on this but the obama administration could poke holes that romney for not being strong on the right response to the housing crisis. charles: universally most people agree that housing has turned the corner. we also hear inventory because people believe their homes will go up where they might have wanted to sell a year ago.

does that work? >> is only room develop once the fed increases interest rates and put pressure on housing. charles: neither camp is pushing -- [talking over each other] >> a huge part of the economy they have to talk about. charles: much more on the housing market later this hour and we will ask the question is a home still the best investment a person can make? mortgage at record lows and home prices bouncing back. bob massey will join the company at 10:45. he has seen the market at its worst but does he still believe real-estate is the best bet? we will ask him. nickel, eli lilly shares at a four year high. where are they now. nicole: i love you are absolutely right. so many analysts jumping on board for their price targets and most have price targets under $50 and it was $52 a we're seeing now 5220 the highest levels since 2008 and this is

all on a drug for alzheimer's that had some great findings and experimental drugs that lead to reduction in the morelos so 34% reduction in memory loss and that is some good news. charles: great news for everybody watching. sticking with the medical team. 13,000 people in 23 u.s. states received steroid injections links to rare fumble meningitis outbreak. eight of those people have died. 105 cases have been confirmed in nine states. joining the company is dr. mark siegel with the fox medical ateam. where are we? is it contained? where are we with this outbreak? >> i don't want people to be scared. meningitis is an infection of the lining of the brain. this is a fungus. usually it floats around the air in the dirt and soil.

you don't get sick from it. in this case it has been found from a compound pharmacy which is the middleman which takes a steroid and sticks it into a vile and sends it around the country to people get back and neck injections for pain. 3% of our pharmacies are those little men compound pharmacies. 7500 pharmacies we are talking about. they're not under sterile conditions. they don't have fda oversight. [talking over each other] charles: they don't have oversight. >> because of federal law -- [talking over each other] >> there is precedent. very conflicting. they don't have oversight. you never hear me come on this program to talk about wanting more federal oversight. how many times have i said too much government. in this case the fda needs more teeth in the situation because they have to be able to insure sterility. things like this don't get into

our injections. the other problem is we don't usually see this kind of meningitis. we don't see fungal meningitis. it can be causing fevers and headaches and stiff necks or it can take weeks to come about. several weeks -- [talking over each other] charles: it can result in death. >> when you say 13,000 people may have been exposed it is a little misleading because i don't believe 13,000 people have been exposed. that is how many people theoretically it could have gotten into that many of files and went to that many doses. is probably far less but we don't know yet. ashley: can we say the worst is over and we just have to wait to see -- have they cleaned up the problem with this particular place that was making love compound steroids? is it fixed and can this happen again? >> this company is no long-term making steroids. that is fixed.

we don't know how many cases there will be. we have to be on alert for several weeks. i don't know if the worst is over. i think the worst is likely over but this pharmacy is not sending out product. charles: appreciate it. in 2003 a high school athlete was shot by a gang member and now a court ruled the victim can actually sue the company that made the firearm. the judge is next.

you see us, at the start of the day. on the company phone list that's a few names longer. you see us bank on busier highway on once empty fields. everyday you see all the ways all of us aus bank are helping grow our economy. lending more so companies and counities can expand, grow stronger and get back to work. everyday you see all of userving you, around the country, around the corner. us bank.

charles: we have a flat market so far. dow jones industrial average of 5 points, 600 points off of the all-time high which was set five years ago to the day. we remember what happened next. the housing crash. the dow fell 50% but we are slightly lower than we were five years ago. johnson and johnson is down and goldman sachs downgrading from mutual said there's growth potential already built into the share price and more action in greece protesting against strict budget cuts. processors falling rocks and police retaliated with teargas. thousands in the streets but the police have gained control. back in 90 seconds with the judge. interesting story about gun sales and who is responsible for someone getting shot. big news.

about of people worried about the second amendment. we will be right back.

charles: venezuela voted for socialist rule under hugo chavez and white house spokesman jay carney congratulated them noting high-level of participation and peaceful election process. hugo chavez won 54-35 surviving the biggest test of their teen years in power despite inflation, food shortage, rising

crime and what stuart varney called blatant political the very. which i had a british accent. if it is successful it could create a problem for gun manufacturers. daniel williams is doing a gunmaker called high point which sold guns in an irresponsible dealer, the dealer sold guns illegally to a trafficker who then sold the guns to a man convicted of shooting williams. judge andrew napolitano is here to help us connect the dots logically and legally. you can sue anyone but does this have any merit? judge napolitano: in my view this is a very dangerous lawsuit because you could extrapolate this to any area of human behavior in which you are trying to find a culpable defendant who was so remote to the harm that it is unfair to burden the defendant with the cost of the harm. should general motors pay for

every -- it is in fact hands of someone allowed the driver. we don't have that kind of litigation in the united states. the second amendment is a troublesome area. these lawsuits were tried seven or eight years ago and many states reacted with legislation intended to insulate the manufacturer from harm by the ultimate user. the difference is so great, and the instrument he manufactured will ultimately end. the state of new york had the legislation and a panel of division judges yesterday ignored it. just ignored it as if it didn't exist and this legislation can go forward. if an injured person in new york -- charles: when an appellate division does this is it is the way of actually trying not to

interpret the law but nullify it? judge napolitano: a way for five judges to say we disagree with where the second amendment is being interpreted today and what a liberal state like the state of new york did. not to protect the rights of suggs to use drugs but innocent manufacturers for the inappropriate use of their products. as we said before we went on the air almost any product can be used in a way or by a person that the manufacturer doesn't intend to. should the manufacturer be liable? we answered consistently for 200 now you have five judges in new york trying to change that. charles: taken to its logical conclusion you brought up automobiles and other things were brought up. this would open an amazing can of worms. let's fast forward and say president obama is reelected and had an opportunity to make

changes in the supreme court. could the makeup be designed where their actions would be similar to these five appellate judges? reinterpret the constitution? judge napolitano: two major decisions basically the same makeup, at least the same ideological breakdown the of which have articulated the second amendment in its original purpose. exists so people can easily get guns to protect themselves when the police can't or won't be there or in the ultimate case to shoot at the government if it is taken over by tyrants. that is what these opinions say. a single change the vote of the supreme court could nullify these influence opinions and take away our ability -- >> it wouldn't be the second amendment. more some kind of commerce of laws that have to do with trade. why would this be a second amendment case when it has to do

with the dealer and we were talking before -- stuart: judge napolitano: that is a profound question. it has to do with the second amendment. if the judges or looking for a way to curtail second amendment rights and chose to look at it that way rather than a simple commercial way that if we do this to manufacturers of guns, who is next? what will this do to insurance rates? the cost of products if a manufacturer is always responsible - charles: if we are honest about what this is about most people feel is an indictment by the appellate judges against the second amendment. thank you very much. the bounce from that romney with an 18 point shift among women voters for the governor. why do women change their minds? it is amazing. we will tell you why next. 5-hour energy?

5-hour energy supports the avon foundation for women breast cancer crusade. so i can get the energized feeling i need and support a great cause? i'm sold. pink lemonade 5-hour energy? yeah and a portion of every sale goes to the avon foundation fi'm sold. breast cancer crusade. new pink lemonade 5-hour energy. get the alert, energized feeling you need and support breast cancer research and access to care.

>> it has not been valued. democrats will not turn out 7% higher. if they think they will, they will be very surprised in november. charles: that was during our last hour. catch more varney & company every day. you have to tune in every

weekday at 920 eastern time. >> it is up just in the month of october. today, what we are looking at is bank of america. they are cutting netflix. they moved to the downside. 8.5%. they have cut it to in underperformer to a buy. 23%. this is analyst talking about the growth potential. amazon is not a competition to netflix. you have them pulling back a little bit. charles: thank you a lot. speaking of volatility. showing a big screen and a pull against women voters. president obama was up 18% or 18 points before the debate.

when i initially saw these numbers, i was shocked. what is going on. how come women change their mind so dramatically? >> it is kind of shocking. i wrote a piece just before the democratic convention. they booked like a dozen new speakers to the convention, all women. they made it a focus of the campaign. i found it a little insulting. the idea, for example, women could not figure out to get birth control without help. i think that, i thought it was a matter of time before it backfired on them.

charles: i am not sure that was the eureka moment. the very last images that i saw, when i saw romney's family come on that stage, it was such an amazing warm time. it seem like, you know what, this is what america used to be. all about the family. it seems to me, something visual. i certainly think women did as well. >> i think you are right. romney performed well. there is not a point where romney convinced women. we are all surprised by these numbers. the gender gap is not used to exist the way it does now. reagan, women voted for reagan more than they did carter. [ talking over each other ] charles: i have breaking news right now. jerry sandusky has been

sentenced to 30-60 years in prison. thirty-60 years for jerry sandusky. all right, kelly, sorry i had to interrupt you there. you are saying this is a new phenomena. here is the thing, i think the democrats have been very aggressive with creating victims, buckets of victims. hide behind us. we have your back to paraphrase something i heard a lot at the democratic convention. >> that is exactly how -- that is their campaign strategy. to create special interest groups and then target them. clinton was the first president that we saw did win over women voters more than mail. george hw bush, he got more women voters.

they try to create the idea that they are victims that need help. finally women are starting to realize they have the same reasons men do. charles: we are all affected by the same things. i want to switch topics, though. hollywood hypocrites. we constantly hear from them. the same people in those studios, they always want tax cuts for film production. this does not get enough play. what do you think we might it is funny. i spent a little bit of time in l.a. really maybe they should start doing so.

the argument they are using for the tax credit is, hey, we need to attract jobs here. for some reason, they forget that argument when it comes to the rest of the economy. for the same people who want this tax credit that gary mack brown just excited for the next few years -- you may think they could connect the dots. charles: thank you. we have an author that will defend his comments. elizabeth warren. i am sure you remember this. >> no corporations are not people. [ male announcer ] the markets keep moving.

make sure the news keeps coming with thinkorswim by td ameritrade. use the news links breaking stories wh possible breakout stocks, options with potential opportunity, futures and forex with in-depth analysis. it's an all-you-can-eat bubuft for all things trading. thinkorswim by td ameritrade. it doesn't just deliver news. it's making news. trade commiion free for 60 days, plus get up to $600 when you open an account. >> announcer: meet jill. she thout she'd feel betr after seeing her doctor. and she might have, if not for kari, the identity thief who stole jill's social security number to open credit cards, destroying jill's credit and her dream of retirement. now meet amanda. th a swipe of her debit card, she bought some gas... and an all-expense-paitrip to hawaii for ben. ben is the intity thief who used a device called

a skimmer to steal her formation from her card to open a fraudulent account. every year millions of americans just like you learn that a little personal information in the wrong hands could wreak havoc on your life. this is identity theft, and no one helps stop it better than lifelock. lifelock offers the most comprehensive identity theft protection available. ordinary credit monitoring services tell you after your identity has been stolen; they may take 30 days to alert you! too late for amanda. with lifelock's 24/7 proactive protection, jill would have been alerted as soon as they noticed an attack in their network, before it was too late. and lifelock's bank account takeover alerts would have notified amanda in time to help protect her money. lifelock guards your social security number, your money, your credit, even the equity in your home. while identity theft can't be completely stopped, no one protects you better than lifelock. and lifelock stands behind that, with the power of their

$1 million service guarantee. you have so much to protect, and nothing to lose when you call lifelock right now and try 60 days of identity theft protection risk-free. 60 days risk-free! use promo code: onguard. order now, and get this document shredder, a $29 value, free! call or go online now. [♪...]

♪ charles: earning season kicks off today. alcoa reporting it profits, hopefully profits, after the bell. joining us from chicago now, larry levin. we know the economy is sluggish.

maybe finally start to be reflected in these corporate profits. >> it is not looking very good. a couple traders are not feeling very good about what we will see the rest of the week. i think not just what you said, is going to happen. we will see that negativity come through. there is that upside surprise that we could get. will obama get everybody to undercut their earnings? i am not real confident that is what will happen. charles: i have been doing this for a long time. it has nothing to do with obama. corporations sort of give the guidance. they say we think we will make a buck, but we will tell the street $0.90.

everyone kind of knows the weak link. >> definitely. it is kind of like a game of telephone. one guy tells one story. it keeps going on and changing. charles: larry, thanks a lot. see you soon. our corporations people? mitt romney said this last year. >> corporations are people, my friend. of course they are. [laughter] where do you think it goes? charles: elizabeth warren responded with this. >> and mitt romney tells us in his own words he believes corporations are people. [laughter] no, mitt, corporations are not people.

charles: joining the company from irvine, california, author of the best in us. we want you to make a case here. you say corporations are not people. >> it is not quite that black and white, charles. in the true sense of the word, a corporation is a person in a legal sense. for accountability reasons and for rights. where we struggle is the de facto real world experience with any organization. there is a real world experience where the corporation in a sense is like a flock of geese is a goose. of course, that is not the case. in a sense, governor romney is exactly right. he is speaking about it in a legal view. charles: you do not agree,

though, that a corporation is a person. >> what i am saying is that we run into problems. yes. in a sense. when they say corporations are not human beings from a de facto real-world experience, that is true. the problem we run into is when we deflate these two ways into a real thing. we run into some dangerous struggles. it elevates the corporation over the people who are in that corporation. charles: if you think about it, this flock of geese that you talk about, they all have the same goals in mind. they fly as unison. there is an overarching goal that everyone shares. everyone shares in the paint and misery of the company. i think, ultimately, what we are talking about is the ability to

harm corporations. you can crush a corporation without crushing the people inside of it. >> well, the idea that people working together towards the same end create this additional entity is actually a legitimate conversation. whether or not the person is another issue. the problem is that we elevate the corporation about the people, we get into all kinds of confusion. the reason i wrote the book, the organizations and leaders that will be most effective in the 21st century are the ones who say it is not simply the profits that are the issues. it is growing people and achieving excellence as a function of that. charles: how about staying in business books back hold on one second. sandra: how to use -- how do you

respond to mitt romney's point. when corporations thrive, everyone dies and that money goes back into the pockets of the people . >> what the people in the crowd were saying, they were looking at the same things from a different perspective. both are accurate. charles: right. >> the problem we run into, though, when we try to complete these two ideas, the idea that a prophet is the only thing that matters. [ talking over each other ] charles: i think we are talking about the justification on the

war on business. listen, we have to cut it here. we definitely want to have you back. this is a topic that will not go away. we appreciate it. thanks a lot. home prices, obviously, down big-time. the question remains, is buying a single-family home still the best investment you can make? bob massey is next.

♪ charles: the markets have been flat all morning long. the dow jones off 20 points. five years ago today, the dow jones industrials hit in all-time high. waiting for alcoa to report it earnings. i want you to take a look at netflix. a daytrader stock. people jumped in and out of it all day long. bank of america downgrading its stock. oil is back up this morning. look at the national average for gas prices. $3.81 per gallon. the big story is california. new all-time highs. $4.67. way above the national average. we are back in a couple seconds with bob massey.

♪ bob... oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i getit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here. hey, good call on those mugs. can't let 'em s se what you're drinking. you know, i'm glad we're both running a nice, clean race. no need to get nasty. here's your "honk if you had an affair with taylor" yard sign. looks good. [ male announcer ] fedex office. now save 50% on banners. [ male announcer ] how do you make 70,000 trades a second...

♪ reach one customer at a time? ♪ or help doctors turn billions of bytes of shared information... ♪ into a fifth anniversary of remission? ♪ whatever your business challenge, dell has the technology and sees to help you solve it. charles: warning of catastrophic consequences for schools if tax increases are voted down. all progress made in schools will be reversed. public school officials are not supposed to advocate for or against measures. the best investment is a single-family home in a good neighborhood. home prices are at the bottom.

joining us now is real estate attorney and fox news contributor bob massey. you are sort of from the same school as well. do you still agree with stuart that buying a home is the best place you can put your money? >> yes, it is. first of all, charles, it is not that easy for homeowners to buy a home right now because of the bulk of investors that are coming in and buying bulks of home. they may buy 30, 40, 50 homes. if you make an offer, they did you out. interesting enough, charles, what is selling in los vegas and california is new homes. even people who have filed

bankruptcies are able to get into new homes now. there is a real division of what we are talking about. charles: first of all, if all of these investors are beginning to flock to las vegas, senate that be the sign for individuals who have been sitting on the fence to make their move. the last time i was in vegas, not this last trip, but the one before, i was scrolling the channels and nothing but houses for sale. >> shirley there is. it depends on what time you are talking about. it is a completely different discussion in other places. yes, it is a great time to buy if you have the money to get into it and you are able to do

it. the big issue is, you are competing with these big investors that are coming in. they are doing one of two things. either renting their homes out to people who have lost everything or they pay cash and they carry it as an investor. >> you just brought up people buying them as investment to rent to people. the question of whether a home is a good investment. about 100 years ago, the home is the worst investment you can make. the return on a house has been two or 3%. >> yes. i think you are right. you look at the numbers. >> you have to look at the numbers. that is what it is about. >> not all the time. there is a psychological point to this, adam. people want to have home ownership. people want to think they have something they can own. >> yes, but you cannot eat

psychology. you have to have money in your pockets to buy food. >> people are looking and even people who have lost everything, everything they have ever had, if they get a chance to buy a home again, it makes them feel good about themselves. i agree with you. you put it on paper. there is a psychological element to this in this country. charles: i have to tell you, i agree. sometimes i just sit around and look at my crib and i say, that is good. adam is correct when it comes to the number. thank you for being here. we appreciate it. a new poll that says american is losing its religion and california's high gas prices. all of that in the lightning round next. ♪

lou: the former head of the fdic. fixing the homeowner crisis was meant to look good, but not actually fix it. ♪ charles: we have a lightning rod for sandra right now.

"new york times" uses its editorial page to beat up anyone who challenges labor unions. >> this is, you know, the pot calling the kettle black. here they are squeezing their own reporters union. they are asking for more compensation. health benefits. overtime pay. they even staged a ten minute walk out yesterday. how to keep writing about it when you do it to your own. charles: a new survey on religion. 20% of americans do not belong to a religious group. >> this is scary. however, despite them being called the nuns because they don't have any religious affiliation, they say they pray, that they believe in god and a

have spiritual routines. this is 32%. one out of five americans. 32% of them are under the age of 30. this is the future of our country. charles: a lot of people with a spirituality is the same thing. the gas hike is still there. >> governor jerry brown came to his senses. he allowed the winter lined. charles: you advocate for it .next thing you know, i set my own house on the fire. >> that and other refinery problem is still not clear.

this is a state that will continue to see the latest gas prices in the country. charles: the highlight reel is next. ♪ before copd...

i took my son fishing every year. we had a great spot, not easy to find, but worth it. but with copd making it hard to breathe, i thought those days might be over. so my doctor prescribed symbicort. it helps significantly improve my lung function starting within five minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. with symbicort, today i'm breathing better. and that means...fish on! symbicort is for copd including chronic bnchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more ththan twice a day. symbirt may increase your risk of lung infections, osteoporosis, d some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. with copd, i thought i'd miss our family tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. tod, we're ready for whatever swims our way. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription fe.

or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be ableo help. >> this would seem just absolutely unbelievable just a week ago. >> i think enthusiasm gap is also going to be important for romney. >> cool factor seems to be going up for romney as well. charles: the cool factor is leading the market today. we had a huge sell off in the last hour. sandra: rite at the lows of the session -- right at the lows of the session. you have to understand this market has been running up despite all the forecasts for a very horrible third quarter earnings season. we kick that off after the bell tonight. i don't doubt for a second. this i